Red is a Raven's weakness
by angelic-bitch
Summary: Set during OOTP. George Weasley notices Padma Patil during their DA meetings. As his interest in her grows, instead of asking her out he finds that he can't stop acting like an arrogant git around her. Will she give him a second chance? Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I'm just playing.
1. The Meeting

**I'm obsessed with Harry Potter all over again and I've finally discovered POTTERMORE **** Love it!**

**So even though I have already started and George and Padma story, this one popped into my head. I just had to write it down.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in anyway but damn I'd love to. **

Chapter One: The Meeting

Even though it had been some time since the beginning of fifth year, Padma still felt anxious every time she passed Cormac McLaggen in the hallways or saw him at dinner – basically whenever she was in the same general area as him. The reason being that most of the time when he would see her he would mock her for being an innocent virgin or conversely would brag to his friends loudly that she had given him a good blow job or two. She couldn't understand how he could make her feel like both a prude and a whore.

Over the break between fourth and fifth year her family had gone through a difficult time. They were still going through it. Her father had cheated on her mother and to make it easier for their parents to deal with it, Padma and her twin sister Parvati had been shipped off to their Aunt Marathi's place. Their Aunt wasn't very strict and Padma had found out quite early on in the break that Cormac McLaggen lived only a few doors down from her. They ended up spending most of the break together. Padma needed a distraction and so she had let herself become reckless. She had been infatuated with Cormac. He was handsome, he seemed strong and he didn't ask many questions about her so she didn't have to focus on her own life and how bad it was.

Cormac was her first kiss. Kissing hadn't been what she expected. Her heart didn't beat fast and sometimes she even found it boring. But she was drunk on the fact that one of the hottest guys in school was interested in her. So one night when he told her he'd like her to get on her knees, she didn't object – even though she didn't really want to do it. He enjoyed it and it made her feel attractive. And for this reason over the summer she kept doing it.

It wasn't until one afternoon when she was sick with a bad cold that she would discover the mistake she had made in thinking that Cormac was a good catch. Even though she was feeling sick he asked her to pleasure him. She could believe he would even ask. When a girl is sick their boyfriend is supposed to make them soup and worry about them. That day she ended it and avoided him until fifth year started up and he had been horrible to her ever since.

Padma was on her way to the Room of Requirement when she passed him and tried to ignore him. He didn't move but he had two of his dickhead friends with him.

"Hey boys, if you're ever looking for a good cock sucker, I can tell you from experience that all that studying makes a Ravenclaw girl really horny. Right Paddy?" He yelled after her. His friends sniggered.

Padma felt her cheeks turn red but she just kept walking and didn't turn around. She was really looking forward to their DA meeting tonight and couldn't wait to let out her anger in a practice duel. She would imagine her partner was McLaggen, that would make it easier.

Padma's anger had not dissipated by the time she reached the Room of Requirement. She was so angry that she wasn't paying much attention when she opened the door and she bumped into a fellow DA member. She bumped into this tall person so forcefully that she stumbled backwards but he caught her around her waist and her hands gripped at his biceps.

Feeling quite embarrassed she looked up into the eyes of George Weasley that seemed to fill with mirth.

"I'm so sorry George," she said as she tried to pull away, but he pulled her closer and spoke softly in her ear.

"You know Padma, if you want to know what it's like being in my arms all you have to do is ask. I bet all the studying you do means you've got a bit of pent up energy. If you're interested, I know a perfect way to release..."

But he didn't get a chance to finish. His comment reminded her of Cormac's comment and she just snapped.

Padma pushed the surprised Weasley away as forcefully as she could and spat out her retort aggressively.

"I don't fuck morons!" And she marched over to where Parvati and Hermione were.

No one had heard this but George. He couldn't believe that the timid, little Ravenclaw prefect could be so fierce and so... beautiful.

He had barely exchanged 10 words with her during their time at Hogwarts so far, but he couldn't wait to do it again. She clearly didn't know how to take a joke but she was stunning. How had he not noticed it before? Throughout their DA session he couldn't keep his eyes off her. She noticed this but she thought it was because he wanted to get her back for her aggressive insult. George Weasley noticing her made her nervous.

This nervousness grew as she realised that the way he would get back at her would be through a horrible prank that would embarrass her. Padma didn't know that George's mind was occupied with thoughts of doing things with her that had nothing to do with childish pranks.


	2. The Definition of 'Moron'

**This chapter is specifically for WizardMockingJayWithABox – thank you for your support for both my Padma/George stories!**

**Also, thank you Ebony58 for reviewing – there is more chemistry to come!**

Chapter 2: The Definition of 'Moron'.

George woke up the next morning thinking of Padma. He had never really been rejected by a girl he had flirted with. He was used to being popular and having all the ladies laugh at his jokes. He couldn't figure out how he felt about her. She was beautiful but so damned serious. He couldn't be developing a crush on a prefect! The very thought mortified him as his thoughts drifted to the git Percy was being. No. Prefects didn't know how to have fun. They were only loyal to rules (though perhaps not Ron and sometimes Hermione). However, he decided in that moment that he didn't like her. Anything he said to her would only be to mock her goody two shoe-ness and set her on edge. He wouldn't flirt with her, he wasn't even flirting with her last night - he just wanted to tease her because she was a prefect and he knew he would get a rise out of her. Yeah, that was it.

Apparently George Weasley is good at lying to himself.

Believing that he was mocking the nerdy prefect who rejected him made it a lot easier for him to talk to her again. It was as if he found a new toy to play with.

At breakfast that morning Padma forced herself not to look at him. She wanted to check if he was looking at her but she refused to give in to such a ridiculous impulse. She spoke to her close friend Sue Li about an upcoming test while mentally convincing herself that the Weasley twin would have forgotten about her outburst by now and that she had nothing to worry about. After all he was very popular and had many other things on his mind like all the joke products he had been making and selling.

A minute after Sue left to go to the Owlery, she was proven wrong. Her thoughts were interrupted by the Weasley twin plonking himself down in the space next to her and handing her a few pieces of parchment. He leaned back lazily with his back against table and his arms crossed. His long legs were stretched out in front of him and a smarmy grin spread across his face while he waited for her reaction. She looked at the parchment curiously.

"Why are you giving me your potions test results?" Padma asked, confused.

"I received an 'O' for 'Outstanding'. A moron by definition is a stupid person, I think this proves that I am not one wouldn't you think sweetheart?"

Padma realised what he was getting at and although there was not much room between them, she threw the test back at him which he caught easily.

"So since you don't fuck morons and we have proven that I am not one, where would you like to go? The Room of Requirement might be a good idea..."

Padma hastily got up out of her seat and crossed her arms as she stood up. My God, he was worse than Cormac! Even though Padma now had the height advantage, George looked up at her looking very pleased with himself.

"Just because you're academically smart, doesn't mean you're not a moron." Padma looked furious on the outside but there was a part of her that felt incredibly alert around him. She couldn't explain it. Why did he have to have his sleeves rolled up to his elbows with the white parts of his shirt sticking out at the bottom? She couldn't figure out why she liked that look on him but it was very distracting!

"There are other ways of being stupid, for example, thinking that you can make a living selling joke products."

George's eyes narrowed at this. _That_ was hitting below the belt. He stood up, towering over her. She took a few steps back but he followed her by taking a few steps forward.

Her heart was now beating quite fast. He placed his hands in his pockets and leant down to whisper in her ear.

"No, need to get nasty love. If you're sexually frustrated anger is not the answer. I believe we already have a solution for that. But if you like, we could go on a date first if that would settle your moral compass?"

Padma gritted her teeth and spat out her retort.

"You _are_ stupid if you think you would ever have a chance with me! I've tried out Weasley before. Never again!"

She stormed off out of the Great Hall before he could ask he what that meant.

George sat back down next to his twin quietly. What does she mean she's 'tried out Weasley before'? Did Fred get to her years ago and not tell him?

"Oi! What was that all about?" Fred asked gesturing to the hall doors that Padma had exited through as he stuffed another piece of bacon into his mouth.

George turned to Fred, his brows furrowed.

"You've only slept with Angelina right?"

Fred had not seen that coming and promptly spilled some pumpkin juice all over his robes.

"Damn it George, what the hell?" Fred picked up a few napkins to absorb the juice.

George barely noticed, he was still lost in thought. He was mentally going back through the years through all the girls Fred had taken out on dates. He was interrupted by Fred punching him in the arm not gently.

"Oi! What is wrong with you? Yes Angelina is the only girl I've slept with! You know that you wanker! Why?"

"But you did other stuff with other girls."

"Why are we talking about my love life? What are we really talking about?"

George sighed.

"Did you ever date Padma Patil?"

Fred scoffed.

"What you think I'd go out with ickle Ronniekins sloppy seconds?"

"WHAT?" asked George almost viciously.

Fred cocked his head to the side to examine his brother, then a wide grin spread across his face.

"You like her!"

George ignored this. "What do you mean she was with Ron? He couldn't get a girl like her!"

He then turned around to look down the Gryffindor table to find his younger brother. Poor Ron chose the moment that George's eyes reached him to look up and found himself understanding the phrase 'if looks could kill'. He couldn't figure out what he did wrong but he knew he would find out soon.

Fred watched in amusement and started laughing at his brother's jealousy.

"I don't think they did anything brother."

George turned his attention back to Fred. "What? When did they even..."

He couldn't get the words out.

"At the Yule Ball remember? He took Padma and Harry took Parvati. I don't think there was even a kiss goodnight. Remember he spent the whole time sulking over Hermione and Krum?"

Fred saw his twin visibly relax.

George did remember that vaguely. He had lost his virginity to a Beauxbaton's beauty that night so he hadn't really been paying attention. Her name was Marchelle. The very next day he had seen her flirting with a Durmstrang guy. Not that he was upset, she had been clear about what she was after when she asked him to the Ball. He had actually been pretty proud of himself boasting to Fred and Lee. But after a while his high from it wore off and he found himself jealous of Fred and how he had his first time with a person he loved.

Fred brought him out of his reverie.

"You like her!" he repeated.

"Please, she's an annoying goody-two-shoes prefect who spends her Friday nights studying."

"And you want show her what she could be doing instead," Fred wiggled his eyebrows at his brother while trying unsuccessfully to keep the smirk off his face.

George glared at Fred but said nothing to protest. His eyes then wondered over to his younger brother. What a tosser Ron was not to realise the chance he had had.

Poor Ron, couldn't for the life of him figure out what he had done to offend his elder brother.


	3. Roses, Near Kisses and Violence

Hi HP peeps,

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Thank you so much to WizardMockingJayWithABox for your review for chapter 2. Your support means a lot!

Mischief Managed,

Angelic-Bitch

Chapter 3: Roses, Near Kisses and Violence

Padma was thankful that George was not in her year level or in her house because the last two times she had interacted with him she ended up going over and over it in her head for hours. Her mind just kept wandering back to him.

He is good looking, she could admit that to herself, but he was horribly arrogant. The way he spoke to her and looked at her meant that he only thought of her as a piece of meat. That was what disgusted her.

What she hated the most was that a small part of her actually found it exciting. This is exactly what had happened with Cormac. His attention flattered her and she became someone she couldn't respect. She promised herself that whatever George Weasley did, she would keep him at arm's length – even if she felt a little excited by his attention.

He was clearly a man-whore and she didn't want to have anything to do with him. Cormac was enough to deal with.

Even though George Weasley had ruined her morning, she refused to let him ruin the rest of her day. She was thankful to not have bumped into him in the halls throughout the day and she had breathed a sigh of relief when he hadn't shown up in the Great Hall during dinner as well.

That evening Padma settled herself at a table in the Library towards the back. The library always comforted her. If she felt like being alone she would gravitate to the tables at the back of the library that were surrounded by bookcases and the smell of parchment. However, if she felt like being in an open space she would study at the larger group tables towards the front of the library.

That evening she wished she had chosen a table at the front of the library because if she had, George Weasley would not have tried to pull a typical man-whore stunt on her.

She had been immersed in her revision for her Herbology test when about half an hour later she realised she needed another text book for some of the information. After she returned to her table with the book she saw a single long-stemmed rose laying on top of her study notes.

Without thinking she picked it up and brought it to the tip of her nose. Its scent was wonderful.

"Do you like it?" asked a deep voice from behind her.

Padma whipped around to find George Weasley in his Quidditch robes, standing quite close to her, looking happy with himself as always. _Oh god, he looks so hot in his Quidditch uniform. He must have been at Quidditch practice during dinner._

Padma made sure to plaster a look of disgust on her face before she answered.

"I prefer Tulips," she answered as calmly as possible as she threw the rose back to him. He caught it easily, not caring about the thorns in the stem because of his Quidditch gloves.

"Roses are so generic and meaningless," she continued and folded her arms.

George didn't seem perturbed by her reaction at all, he simply smirked at her. She wanted to slap him. Why did he have to be so tall? His frame was intimidating. And why did she find the way he held himself so bloody attractive? She wondered what it would be like to be close enough to him to place her hands upon his chest. She wondered what it would be like if he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Tulips huh? I'll remember that for next time my beautiful Indian goddess." And to Padma's surprise he closed the distance between them and brought his hand up to tuck a loose dark tendril of hair behind her ear. The gesture was gentle but the look in his eyes meant that he was playing with her.

She quickly lifted her foot to take a step backwards only to find that she was trapped between him and the desk. She swallowed nervously as he looked down at her like an eagle ready to devour its prey.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Can I kiss you Padma?"

Padma could not help the obvious shiver that passed through her body as his hot breath caressed the hairs at her temple. A jolt of electricity went through her system and her heart began to beat fast.

If it were possible his smirk grew at the effect he had on her.

"You know you want to."

It was those words that snapped her out of her trance. Cormac had used the same words to convince her to do certain things she was unsure of.

George did not anticipate the power of Padma's anger. Her hands pushed at his chest as hard as she could. He was obviously a lot stronger than her but he stumbled back in surprise. She did not hesitate to act at this opportunity and she drew her hand back and slapped him hard across the face and moved away from him.

"You make me sick!" she almost growled. "What is this? Did you run out of 7th year and 6th year girls to mess around with? Are you now trying to make your way through the 5th years? Merlin you are such a sleaze. It's disgusting!"

George was rubbing his left cheek surprised at the stinging sensation. Her slap had had quite a force behind it.

"Hmm, you're quite a feisty one aren't you sweetheart?" George chuckled as he looked Padma up and down. She was panting slightly in her fury and her cheeks were red.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are," he stated.

If it were possible, her cheeks would have deepened in colour. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"What's going on here?" came Madam Pince's stern voice as she appeared between bookcases. "I heard yelling."

Padma was relieved that they were no longer alone and she quickly began packing her things into her book bag.

"I'm so sorry Madam Pince, it will not happen again," Padma apologised.

"Padma Patil, I am surprised at you. You're a prefect. You know the rules."

"I-I know, again I am sorry." She began to fiddle with the buckle on her bag. It wouldn't close. She just wanted to get away from him.

Madam Pince turned her attention to George and saw the rose in his hand. Her expression softened. She clearly thought this was some kind of lover's spat.

"That's pretty," she commented. Her entire tone had changed.

"Not as much as the girl I tried to give it too."

Madam Pince turned her attention back to the Ravenclaw.

"Oh Padma dear, when a man wants to give you flowers, you accept them."

Padma couldn't believe her ears. She clicked her book-bag buckle into place, slung it around her shoulder and scoffed.

"Man?" she questioned as she looked into George's eyes. "Try man-whore!" And she slipped past both of them and headed straight to the exit doors. She didn't turn around or stop until she was safely in her dormitory.

As she got to the room she shared with four others she was glad that they were still in the common room or elsewhere because she could feel her body vibrating with anger. She wanted to break something. Slapping him had given her no satisfaction because he didn't care, in fact, he had said that she was beautiful.

Was this going to be her life? Was she going to be targeted by egotistical jerks who wanted to use her? Would she never find someone who actually valued her?

Padma felt the sting of tears in her eyes as she remembered her reaction to his advances. She had been close to giving in to him. Did she have such little control over herself?

At that moment two of her roommates Mandy and Sue came in giggling about some frivolous matter but when they saw their friend's face they stopped immediately.

"Oh my gosh, Paddy what's wrong?" Sue asked and practically leapt over everything to wrap her arms around her friend. Padma began to cry. "What's happened?"

Mandy stood by the door. She wasn't sure what to do in these situations.

"I-I've just had a really bad day. I don't really want to talk about it." She broke away from Sue's comforting embrace.

"Do you want us to get Parvati?" asked Mandy.

"No I'll be ok." The last thing Padma wanted was George Weasley overhearing that she was crying and needed her sister.

Another one of their roommates opened the door and entered not realising the fragile scene she had entered into.

"Hey Padma, Luna gave me this to give to you. She said some guy in 7th year wanted you to have it." Lisa was holding out the same rose George had tried to give her.

All three girls gushed at this and began to pepper Padma with questions. Padma took the rose and placed it on her bedside table.

The questions stopped as soon as she began plucking all the petals out. They also watched in horror as she used one of her small knives that they used in potions to chop the stem up. They watched very confused as she placed all parts of the damaged rose into an envelope, sealed it and placed it back on her bedside table.

She turned to her friends who were all looking at her like she was deranged.

"The guy who gave it to me is an absolute jerk. I'll send it back to him tomorrow morning. I don't want to talk about it ok?" And with that she gathered her things to take to the prefect's bathroom. She could use a good bubble bath.

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it. It would mean a lot to me if you reviewed.**


	4. Padma beats George

**Hello? Is there anyone out there reading this besides me and WizardingMockingjayWithABox?**

**If you don't like it for whatever reason let me know so can improve- please do so nicely though.**

**Dear WizardingMockingjayWithABox, you're probably right about him being OCC. For me, George acts like a bit of a dick because he can't yet understand his feelings for Padma. He is undeniably attracted to her and craves more interaction with her which is why he is constantly trying to get under her skin.**

**Enjoy...**

Chapter 4: Padma beats George

George found it difficult to sleep that night. He had played Padma's reaction to him yesterday over and over in his mind. When she had slapped him he had had to restrain himself from pulling her to him and kissing her right then and there.

He couldn't understand how she was single. She was beautiful, smart and fierce. She could certainly take him on. He hadn't met any girls who could resist his charm.

The next morning when the mail arrived Padma had to resist the urge to look his way to see his reaction to the massacred rose. She was also anxious to see how he would retaliate.

She was happily surprised when nothing happened within the next few days. In fact a whole week went by and she had hardly seen him. The only time she had seen him was when she had gone outside for a walk around the Lake. On her way back she had seen him from a distance with Fred and a few others on the castle stairs trying out a few of their joke products. She had decided to take the long way back to Ravenclaw tower to avoid him.

As the days past Padma came to the conclusion that he was no longer interested in playing whatever game he had been playing with her and that he had moved on.

What she didn't know was that Angelina Johnson had scheduled extra Quidditch practices and that the twins had received a high number of requests for their joke products and that George had been busy making more canary creams and puking pastilles in his spare time. He had definitely not forgotten about her.

Their next meeting actually happened by chance but George took full advantage of the opportunity to get a rise out of Padma. George was waiting outside their History of Magic class with the rest of his classmates while Padma, her friend Sue and a few of the other Ravenclaw 5th years were walking past to get to their Transfiguration class. They both noticed each other. George's face split into a cocky grin while Padma looked away immediately hoping that he would leave her alone.

He didn't.

He followed her, his long legs catching up quite quickly.

"Hello love," he greeted her with a smirk.

Padma sighed and simply kept walking pretending that he wasn't there. Sue looked between George and Padma finding their interaction fascinating. But she loyally took a cue from Padma and kept quiet.

"Are you still angry with me my Indian goddess? I am glad. You're so sexy when you're angry."

As he said this he swerved in front of her so that he was in her way and facing her. She had no choice but to stop. She avoiding looking in his eyes tried to step around him, but he blocked her at every turn until she gave up. She glared up at him but he just chuckled and leaned in towards her.

"Are you going to slap me again?" he whispered as if the thought of her being so feisty excited him.

Padma could no longer say nothing.

"What do you want from me Weasley? Seriously what will it take for you to never speak to me again?"

Padma's outburst attracted a bit of a crowd from the students walking past on their way to their classes.

Unbeknownst to both of them Professor McGonagall had opened her classroom door nearby to let her class in. As they filled in the volume of Padma's voice led McGonagall to investigate the source of the voice. She was more than shocked to hear the exchange between George and Padma.

George smirked, "Your naked legs wrapped around my waist should do it love, we could go to the library if you like. I have a feeling you'd like it there."

Padma's cheeks turned red as she remembered her reaction to him being so close when they were in the library. This angered her. She would never show such weakness in front of him again.

"I told you before, I don't fuck morons! Especially those who don't know the first thing about women. Oh i'm sure you know how to receive pleasure Weasley, but do you know how to give it?"

She looked him up and down in disgust.

"It's obvious, you couldn't make me scream if you tried. Stick to making joke products because that's the only thing you're good at."

It was George's turn to turn red. He had no response but to stare in surprise and in awe of this feisty beauty before him.

There were sniggers and hushed whispers from crowd who in awe of Padma as well. All but one.

Padma moved to pushed past George but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Professor Mcgonagall's voice.

"Mr Weasley! Ms Patil! Your behaviour is despicable. Meet me in my office at the beginning of lunch!" Then she addressed the crowd. "By the time I count to three if you are not out of my sight, you will be joining these two at lunch."

They were out of sight in two.

For the next two periods Sue grilled Padma for all the details about George. Padma was actually relieved to tell someone about it. She told Sue about everything except Dumbledore's Army.

Fred having witnessed George's humiliation spent the next two periods mocking his twin. Fred made it clear that he approved of Padma and that he looked forward to the next time she would best his brother in public.

Padma was first to arrive at McGonagall's office and was simply met with a steely glare and a gesture to sit down in one of the chairs opposite Mcgonagall on the other side of her desk.

George arrived shortly after and sat next to Padma who folded her arms and refused to acknowledge him.

McGonagall began her lecture on how horrified she was to open her door and hear such vulgar things being said. She knew that George was cheeky but never expected him to cross the line into sexual harassment. His consequence was to apologise to Padma and complete a 5 minute oral presentation in front of his class about the way to treat females respectfully.

McGongall then expressed her shock at Padma's behaviour and questioned whether she should still be allowed to be a prefect if she couldn't set a good example to the other students.

Padma was surprised when George came to her defence.

"Professor, I started it, I was teasing her and she told me where to go. She shouldn't be punished for that."

McGonagall raised her eyebrows in surprise and hid a smile. Padma decided that she didn't believe he was being sincere.

"Very well, Ms Patil your consequence is similar to Mr Weasley's. You will give a 5 minute oral presentation to your classmates on respectable language and behaviour in public and it is your turn to apologise to Mr Weasley."

Padma grit her teeth as she heard the last part. She knew that the right thing to do would be to apologise even though she was not sorry. But McGonagall didn't know about the other situations where George had been an absolute dick. So for the first time in her time at Hogwarts she did not listen.

"I'll do the presentation Professor, but I was always taught to tell the truth. I'm not sorry for what I said. I meant every word."

McGonagall's nostrils flared. She had not expected this.

Padma was not even scared as she would have been in the past. Her anger was fuelling her bravery to go against one of her favourite teachers.

"Right then, that's your choice Ms Patil. But I've decided that neither of you will need to complete the presentation. Instead you will report here every day at 7pm after dinner starting tomorrow to complete certain tasks for me. You will do them together until you learn to tolerate each other."

Padma froze. Every day with him? Why hadn't she just apologised?


	5. Detention

**FallenAngel – the fact that you keep re-reading this story means so much to me! Thank you so much!**

**Bluemuffin22 – thank you so much for reviewing! You're definitely right, George is in denial!**

**WizardingMockingJayWithABox – I can always count on you to support my story. You're a star!**

**To the guest who reviewed – thanks for your review! Padma's feistiness comes from her anger about her Dad cheating on her mum and Cormac treating her like a piece of meat – this didn't happen until after the Yule Ball.**

Chapter Five: Detention

Fred burst into a fit of laughter after George had recounted how Padma had acted in Professor McGonagall's office. "And she refused to apologise to you? In front of McGonagall?"

George glared at his twin as he added mint leaves to their latest concoction.

"Man, this girl has balls of steel! It's always the quiet ones eh? So why haven't you asked her out already?!"

George chose to ignore him. "Pass me the salamander eyes would you?"

Fred rolled his eyes but dropped the subject.

Meanwhile Padma was in the library again, this time sitting at the front tables where there were more students around. She was pouring over her copy of _The Healer's Helpmate_ by . It was not a school textbook. She was reading it because she was interested. For the last few years it had been dawning on her that she wanted to be a Healer.

She joined the DA because she understood that the need to fight and defend was approaching fast. But her heart lay in healing and the hope that came with it.

She truly believed that "You Know Who" was back and that war was on its way. She just didn't let her mind go to the dark place of wondering whether she would survive or not. She knew that with the pain that was coming, if it was inevitable and couldn't be stopped, she wanted to help lessen it.

Parvati entered the library, spotted her sister and plonked herself down in the chair next to her.

"You have something to tell me!" Parvati accused.

"I do?" questioned the Ravenclaw as she looked up.

Parvati raised her eyebrows.

Padma looked puzzled.

Parvati sighed in frustration. "Apparently George Weasley declared in front of everyone that he wants to have hot sex with you and you rejected him!"

"That's not exactly true."

"Wait, you didn't reject him?"

Padma clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Parvati!"

"Well then, what happened?"

Padma put her copy of _The Healer's Helpmate_ into her book bag. This conversation was going to take a while.

Padma told her twin everything that had happened between her and George Weasley and at the end Parvati had come to the conclusion that he had a crush on Padma.

"No way Pav, he's just a cocky sleaze looking for entertainment," came Padma's response to that theory.

Parvati ignored her. "And I can't believe you told him that he couldn't make you scream if he tried! Do you kiss our mother with that filthy mouth of yours Paddy-cakes?"

Padma rolled her eyes but had to stifle a giggle. Parvati was clearly proud of her for sticking up for herself and if she was being honest with herself, she felt a little thrill every time she thought of George's face when he had no response to her comeback.

This feeling didn't last for long though because she knew that the next day she would be alone with him serving out her detention doing Merlin knows what. She just hoped she didn't have to clean out the Potions stockroom. As much as she loved examining the ingredients whenever she was there, she did not fancy cleaning the jars of the ingredients that had expired.

The next evening Parvati walked her sister to her detention. She knew that Padma was nervous about it not only because she would be alone with George Weasley but because she hadn't received a detention since second year when she punched Pansy Parkinson in the face.

They arrived at Professor McGonagall's office at 6.55pm and waited outside the doors. Padma felt more comfortable being early. Parvati hugged her sister and told her she would be fine, but disappeared before McGonagall could arrive and ask her about her overdue Transfiguration homework.

While she waited Padma pulled her copy of _The Healer's Helpmate_ out of her pocket and enlarged it. She had previously shrunk it down to fit in her pocket so she could take it with her everywhere. She sat on the floor cross-legged and began to read a section on treating burn wounds. She found that it was helping to calm her nerves. That was until George Weasley announced his presence.

He sat down beside her and peered over her shoulder.

"How to heal first degree dragon fire burns," he read aloud. She immediately shut the book and muttered the spell to shrink it.

"Hmm, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed. You were reading it so intensely that I thought it must be one of those naughty chick books where the stable boy rides his great big stallion into the innocent princess'-"

He was cut off by Padma jumping up hastily. She was not going to listen to this.

"What's the matter my princess? Don't be embarrassed if you are imagining me as a stable boy!" he smirked as he stood up to join her.

Padma was quick to catch on to the fact that he had called her princess to imply that he wanted to corrupt her apparent innocence. She rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. 7.04pm. Professor McGonagall was late. Since when did that ever happen?

"Embarrassed that I may have stumbled onto the truth regarding your reading habits _princess_?" He emphasised the last word and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You know it's interesting that you would equate yourself to a simple stable boy in this delusion Weasley. I didn't think you thought so low of yourself compared to me." She was tempted to say something about how it fit with his family's financial situation but she didn't. No matter how much she hated him she wouldn't be so cruel. She just wished she could knock him down a few pegs - just enough so that he would leave her alone.

A wide grin spread across his face. He let his hand lean against the wall behind her and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"I can go as low as you wish princess."

Padma had to stop herself from shivering from excitement as his warm breath tickled her skin. Instead she clucked her tongue in frustration. How could he make everything dirty? Thank Merlin McGonagall came around the corner and he stepped away.

"Ok you two, follow me," she instructed and walked past them.

Padma forced her breathing to slow as they followed McGonagall into a room where there were stacks of parchment and envelopes.

"You will fold the letters, put them in the envelopes and seal them. There are over 800 that need to be sent out this week so obviously you will not finish this task today. You will come back tomorrow and every week day after that until it is complete after which I will set you a new task. Obviously you cannot use magic so you will surrender your wands and I will be back to collect you in an hour."

Once McGonagall had taken her wand Padma felt unsafe. What if Weasley tried something on her and she couldn't defend herself?

Once they were alone George leaned his back against the desk with his hands in his pockets and smirked at her.

"Now where were we?"

Padma couldn't figure out why she liked that his legs were stretched out in front of him. Could legs really be that sexy? And his arm muscles, while they were not obvious, she could see them flex as he put his hands in his pockets. She silently wished she could run her hands along his arms. Not that she would ever let her desires show.

"We were about to figure out a way to make these detentions go away. Yesterday Professor McGonagall said that they would end when we got along and while I detest you I think I could pretend to not find you a pathetic excuse for a male - sort of."

"Ouch," answered George without the slightest indication that he was hurt.

Padma sighed. "I'll fold them and put them into envelopes and you can seal them and then we'll switch in half an hour," she ordered.

George raised his eyebrows at her suggestively for the second time in ten minutes.

"I like a woman who takes charge."

"Then why don't you hit on McGonagall?" Padma quipped. "No wait, poor McGonagall, I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"Wow, you sure know how to take a hit at a guys ego princess. You know, maybe you should take a chance on me, you may like it."

"I doubt it," she answered appearing disinterested though her entire body was alert simply because of his presence. She sat down at the closest desk and started to fold the letters and put them in envelopes.

George looking smug, sat down opposite her to seal them.

"How would you know until you try it?"

"I told you, I've tried Weasley before. Never again!"

Padma didn't notice George's nostrils flare at this.

"My brother hardly knows anything about women, you need someone more experienced," his playful, flirtatious tone had left his voice but again, she didn't notice.

"Your brother has a broad chest, well defined muscles and isn't arrogant in any way," came her retort.

Even though she didn't really like Ron for the way he treated her at the Yule Ball she wanted George to believe that she would choose Ron over him in a split second. Maybe that would set him down a few notches.

George was silent for a moment which she was not expecting but she didn't think much of it. She didn't realise the length of his jealousy and he was surprised by it himself.

"I could vomit," he said without much energy and to Padma's surprise they fell into an uncomfortable silence for most of the hour. They even remained silent when they switched tasks.

Padma briefly wondered if his being quiet was due to his caring about what she said. But she dismissed it. _He's so full of himself. He wouldn't be insecure about me implying that Ron was a better choice than him. _

How wrong she was. George spent the whole hour trying to stop himself from imagining Padma and Ron together. Padma dancing with him at the Yule Ball. Padma running her hands over Ron's broad chest. Padma squeezing Ron's muscles. Padma and Ron kissing.

George couldn't wait until he could leave this detention to go bash the crap out of his little brother.

They stayed silent until George heard Padma hiss from the pain of accidently burning her hand on the sealing wax burner.

He went over to her, leant his back against the desk so he was facing her and reached for her hand but she pulled away.

"Show me," he requested.

"I'm fine, go back to folding." Padma couldn't think straight because he was so close. She could smell his cologne. It was intoxicating.

He ignored her. "Show me," he said again this time with a bit more force.

She looked up into his eyes, surprised to see that there was no hint of laughter. He was serious. She bit her bottom lip unsurely and stood up so that she was closer to his height level – not that that was really possible since he was so tall.

He reached out for her hand again and this time she let him. A jolt of electricity passed through her as he held her hand gently in both of his to examine the burn. She looked up into his face and watched him as he focused on the burn. Her eyes then moved to notice a cluster of freckles trailing down his neck and she realised that she was tempted to run her finger along them to connect the dots and then see where they led under his shirt.

At that moment they heard the door open. Padma snatched her hand away just in time before Professor McGonagall could see them in such a position.

As soon as she returned their wands and dismissed them Padma was out the door and on her way to Ravenclaw tower but George followed her.

She was mentally thinking about the ingredients she had in her trunk so that she could make a simple healing mixture for her burn when he caught up to her.

"Wait," he commanded as he stepped in front of her to stop her. He then pulled her into an empty classroom nearby and closed the door.

"I have something that will help it heal," he explained before she could yell at him.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it to reveal many miniature products he and Fred had invented. He pulled out the one he was looking for, closed the box and put it back into his pocket.

"What is it?" Padma couldn't help but be curious. Though she would never tell him, she was more than impressed with the products he and Fred had invented. She watched as he enlarged the unrecognisable tiny product into a small hand sized jar of yellow paste.

"It's bruise removal paste," he answered. "Fred and I made it. It should work on low level burns as well."

"If you think I'm going to trust something you've made - "

But he cut her off. "It works, I've used it many times myself."

"Well what's in it? If it doesn't have rose oil in it, it won't work on burns."

"It does have rose oil and crushed porcupine quills, honey and diced mandrake root."

Padma blinked in surprise. She thought about how those ingredients would work together to heal her burn quite nicely. But how did he get the mandrake to mix with the porcupine quills without exploding?

"How did you get the mandrake and quills to mix properly?" she asked.

George smirked and opened the lid of the jar. He passed it to Padma to hold. He dipped two fingers into the paste and used his other hand to reach for Padma's hand.

Padma shivered slightly as he lightly grazed his thumb over the top of her hand where the burn was. Her skin tingled.

He held her arm with one hand to keep it steady and then smoothed the paste over the burn with his two fingers of the other hand. Padma instantly felt a coolness surround the burn. She couldn't believe that she could already feel it working.

"It should be fine in about two hours. If it were a bruise it would only taken one hour.

Padma didn't notice that he was still holding her arm.

"That's amazing," Padma said in quiet awe as she looked at the yellow paste on her burn.

George grinned cockily. "Most ladies say that when I'm touching them."

Padma snatched her arm away and looked up at him. He was back. She could tell by his expression that any part of him that she could admire had vanished.

"Goodnight princess," he said smoothly and before she could tell him not to call her that he was gone.

**I hope you liked this chapter! If you want more, please review! :)**


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